Slovakia backs eCall

(13/06/2008) Today, the eCall Memorandum of Understanding (eCall Mou) got the backing of Slovakia. Ľubomír Vážny, Minister of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications, signed the eCall MoU in the presence of Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for the Information Society and Media. Slovakia is the 14th EU Member State to sign the MoU, and thereby to commit itself to the timely implementation of this pan-European in-vehicle emergency call system.

"I am pleased that Slovakia gives its support to the deployment of this technology, which could save up to 2.500 lives a year", said Commissioner Reding at the signature event. "Slovakia's signature is a milestone, because now more than half of the EU Member States have committed to eCall. I call on the remaining EU Member States, as well as on other European countries, to take this signature as an example, and to follow suit. We cannot wait any longer: lives are at stake here", the Commissioner concluded.

Background

The pan-European in-vehicle emergency call system, "eCall", is a device that automatically calls the nearest emergency centre in the event of a serious traffic accident. During the call the exact location of the accident scene is transmitted to the centre, even if there is no voice connection, when for example all passengers have lost consciousness. Knowledge of the exact location reduces the response time of the rescue teams by 40 % in built-up areas and 50 % in rural environments. 2.500 lives could be saved in the European Union annually, and 15 % of serious injuries mitigated, if all European cars were equipped with eCall.

Other EU Member States that have signed the MoU so far are: Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain and The Netherlands. Non-EU States Iceland, Norway and Switzerland belong to the signatories as well.

A photo from the signature event can be downloaded from the eSafety website